Raleigh presents progress and delays on CARES alternative crisis response program

Raleigh City Council received a multi‑department update on Raleigh CARES, the city’s multi‑component alternative crisis response initiative intended to expand non‑police responses to homelessness, behavioral health, and other non‑emergency social crises.

What was reported
- Program components: care navigation (case management and housing connections), Acorns (a police co‑response unit with social workers), a crisis call diversion line operated under contract with Alliance Health, and a proposed community response team (clinicians and peer supports).
- Care navigation: staff reported the care navigation team is fully staffed, conducted a soft launch in May, and has housed two individuals since May and helped five households access services. A technical vendor (Gelato) supports client tracking; full operations for care navigation were targeted for July once Gelato was live.
- Acorns: staff said the unit has handled about 1,600 unique referrals since inception, is fully staffed, is training with Alliance and NAMI partners, and launched a Gelato database to log encounters and outcomes.
- Crisis call diversion line: Alliance, the contracted vendor, has experienced hiring delays; city training for internal staff is planned to begin in August with an anticipated multi‑week internal training and an operational target in the September timeframe but subject to the vendor completing hiring and onboarding.
- Community response team/mobile crisis: the city is negotiating a pilot with Wake County and expects to design a 24‑hour Raleigh‑based unit to reduce long county response times; city staff are working on position descriptions, a comp study impact for hiring, and an evaluation framework.

Costs, staffing and milestones
- Funding sources cited include ARPA for database/Gelato procurement and city appropriations for added positions. Staff said the city authorized a position in the city manager’s office to coordinate the program once a comp study is complete.
- Staff emphasized partnerships with Alliance, Acorns, Wake County, the police department, Raleigh Fire and the housing department. Chief of Police said crisis intervention training (CIT) has been expanded and cited a county CIT award for an officer who began on the Acorns unit.

Concerns and next steps
- Councilors asked about vendor timing and whether the diversion line will be operational by mid‑September; staff gave a cautious timeline tied to the vendor completing hiring and to internal crisis intervention training (expected to take 6–8 weeks once started).
- Staff will continue to develop the community response team pilot with Wake County, finalize the Gelato dashboard rollout, and return with a timeline as vendor hiring and the comp study allow.

Speakers (meeting attributions)
- Michelle Millette (presenter, City Manager’s Office)
- Max Dempsey (Care Navigation Manager)
- Emily Sutton (Housing & Neighborhoods)
- Madeline Horner (Acorns operational lead)
- Chief Rico Boyce (Raleigh Police Department)
- Dominic Nutter (Emergency Communications Director)

Authorities and contracts referenced
- Contract with Alliance Health for crisis call diversion (city‑contracted vendor)
- ARPA funds used to procure Gelato database and to support initial systems

Discussion versus decision
- Discussion: Council received updates on progress, vendor delays, pilot design, and training schedules.
- Direction: Council asked staff to return with firm timelines; staff was directed to keep vendor timelines and public updates transparent.
- Formal action: None taken to change contracts or funding during the meeting.

Clarifying details
- Gelato database: went live for Acorns; the care navigation soft launch occurred in May; city target for full care navigation launch in July once vendor integration completed.
- Referrals: Acorns reported ~1,600 unique referrals to date (staff figure).
- Care outcomes reported anecdotally: care navigation reported two people housed since May and five households with increased service access.

Searchable tags: Raleigh CARES, Acorns, care navigation, crisis diversion line, Alliance, Gelato

Ending
Staff emphasized that the project is multi‑agency and that the timeline for full operation of the diversion line depends on the contracted vendor’s hiring and on internal training. Councilors asked for regular progress updates and for staff to share an operational timeline when vendor staffing is confirmed.